And another popular Linux distribution pushes a new release out the door. This time around, it's openSUSE, as they just released version 12.1. Other than the usual latest and greatest version of all the open source desktops and associated tools, there's a few other interesting tidbits in this release as well.

openSUSE 12.1 is the first Linux distribution to ship with colour management tools for both GNOME and KDE. In the case of KDE, this means openSUSE is the first major distribution to ship with KolorManager + Oyranos color management tools. Plasma Active, while no integral part of openSUSE just yet, can also be installed for those interested in KDE's new tablet interface.

Another interesting first is openSUSE's support for the snapshot functionality in btrfs, the file system which will eventually become the standard for Linux. The user can interface with the snapshot functionality using Snapper, which, as usual, comes with both a YaST module and command line tools.

Furthermore, openSUSE 12.1 comes with full support for the Go programming language, another first for a major Linux disribution.